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Abstract:

This commentary reflects upon a set of papers relating to teachers’ work which are significant for a number of reasons. Firstly they begin to fill a gap in the understanding of the experience of Scottish teachers, and how they see their work and careers in teaching. Secondly the research has impacted, with other forces, upon policy at national level, by raising awareness of teachers’ experiences of employment and support within a context where the focus of rhetoric is long-term professional development. Arrangements for the support of new teachers have now changed. The analysis presented here sets the papers’ findings in a wider context of the changing nature of work and of career, and of the shape these take in teaching, and questions assumptions made about the current and future nature and length of teachers’ careers. Teachers’ work is work, public sector work and professional work and each additional characteristic shapes its nature. Contextually, globalisation and new managerial agendas have brought changes in work and career and the findings of the papers are analysed within this framework. The Scottish context, with its educational history, ways of working and recent changes in teachers’ work, provides its own unique setting for understanding teachers’ work and the impact of modernisation. It is concluded that while some common effects of modernisation are clearly identifiable for Scottish teachers’ work, satisfaction with autonomy unusually remains high. The new arrangements for teachers following from the implementation of the McCrone agreement are considered as a force for sustaining that satisfaction.